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Babysitter Down
Location: Naperville, Illinois Date: April 18, 1992 Story On the night of April 18, 1992, in Naperville, Illinois, Kim Eastman and her husband, Jon, were going out to dinner to celebrate his birthday with some friends. They made arrangements to leave their three children, five-year-old Jeff, three-year-old Matthew, and baby Megan, in the care of fifteen-year-old Marissa Tatum, who had babysat them many times before. "The boys were very excited to have fun with Marissa before bedtime," remembers Kim; she and Jon left Marissa the names and phone numbers of the places they were going to. They then left as the children waved goodbye. Suddenly, Marissa collapsed flat on her chest and Jeff called 911. Naperville dispatcher Andrea Hido took the call and gave out the information to her coworker, Linda. "I feel very frustrated that we are not able to to send immediate help to the location. I have three children of my own and want to get help there as soon as possible," said Linda. Jeff was very hysterical and Andrea felt very bad that he was home alone with his siblings. "It was dark out, so I knew he had to be scared and just felt that I wanted to be there to tell him that it was going to be okay," said Andrea; she feared the worst about teenagers that Marissa might have taken alcohol or drugs, which can be serious. "Marissa fell down on her chest and I didn't know what happened then. I was very scared," said Jeff. "Matthew was crying when I called 911 but couldn't see me, so he thought I'd left. He felt sad for Marissa," explained Jeff. Andrea asked Linda to call Jeff's parents at the Funny Bone Restaurant to come home as fast as possible, then asked Jeff to feel Marissa's face to see if it was cold or warm. It was warm, but there was no air coming out of her nose. Four minutes after Jeff's call, Officer Michael Anders arrived at the scene. "I didn't know what was wrong with the girl. I told the boys to go out and wait for the ambulance because I knew I had to do CPR. I didn't want them to see," said Officer Anders. Then he asked, "Can you hear me, Marissa?" but got no response. Paramedic Scott McCardy was the first paramedic on the scene. "We were calling to Marissa, but there was no response," he explained. Officer Anders found a high school ID card, but it did not indicate if she had any allergies. When her parents, Bud and Mary Lou, arrived, she was still in a coma. The paramedics let them ride with her in the ambulance. Doctors determined that the cause of her collapse was caused by a combination of dehydration, lack of food, and a bad reaction to cold medication she'd been taking that week to cure a fever she'd had. Soon after she was taken, Jon and Kim arrived home to confront their children about what had happened. "I felt guilty; I should have been more reliable and taken my medicine with food. If I could tell Jeff how much I love him and how much he means to me, I can never say, 'Thank you,' enough for what he did," explained Marissa. "When Jeff was about 3 or 4 years old, I told him that if there was a problem, he should call 911. But we have not talked about that for a long time. So for him to remember, I was very proud," said Kim. Jeff had taken care of his siblings and Marissa. "Marissa is all better now," he explained. Category:1992 Category:Illinois Category:Kid Heroes